State offers ‘all resources necessary’ to end gang killings

The Government has offered its full support to An Garda Síochána and access to "all resources necessary" in the force's attempts to bring an end to the recent series of gang-related killings in Dublin.

Speaking after a meeting with acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny and senior officers of An Garda Síochána, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said the Government would continue to support Garda investigations into the killings, including "extensive overtime to support them in delivering concentrated visible policing measures to tackle gang-related crime".

She said an “intensive programme of Garda recruitment” was under way to help bring an end to the gang-related murders in the capital.

Ms Fitzgerald described as “intolerable” the recent cycle of gang violence and loss of life in Dublin.

“We will not let the safety and good name of our capital city be dragged down by the violence and thuggery of these gangs,” she said.

Significant progress has been made in investigations into the killings including the establishment of a dedicated armed support in the capital, according to An Garda Síochána.

The Garda response has included the use of armed checkpoints, visible policing and intelligence operations aimed at disrupting and preventing further killings in the capital.

Ms Fitzgerald said there was “no question” of any reduction in the resources or the overtime being made available to Garda forces to counteract gang-related crime.

“Recent appalling events should not cause us to lose sight of the fact that An Garda Síochána have in the past successfully faced-down gangs who believed they were above the law. Nor should we underestimate the difficulties they face in counteracting the activities of members of gangs determined to kill each other in a cycle of vicious and mindless violence.”

Resolve

Garda deputy commissioner John Twomey said earlier this week that the resolve of gardaí would not be shaken by the recent upsurge in violence. His comments came following two further killings in Dublin on Monday night.

Michael Barr (35) was shot dead while in the Sunset House pub in Summerhill in Dublin 1 just hours before Thomas Farnan (37) was killed at his home in Clondalkin in the west of the city.

The killing of Barr has been linked to the ongoing Kinahan-Hutch feud while the Farnan killing was thought to be related to a local dispute.

Meanwhile, the Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud had resulted in extreme violence in Mountjoy Prison recently with prison officers warning that urgent action is needed to isolate rival gang members from each other.

The Prisons Officers’ Association said its members were forced to rush into an exercise yard in the prison in recent months and break up an attack by one group of prisoners on a criminal aligned to an opposing faction.